SKOMP3910 Bachelor's Thesis Course description

The bachelor’s thesis is the final academic in-depth paper in the nursing programme. Through the work on the bachelor’s thesis, the student will delve into a delimited area of research, and have the opportunity to develop his/her own academic independence. The topic must be linked to the nursing profession, patients and/or next-of-kin. The bachelor’s thesis must include systematic literature searches to apply results from recent research related to the chosen research question. The bachelor’s thesis must be presented in a systematic and clear manner. The title of the bachelor’s thesis will also be included on the diploma.

In the autumn semester, some teaching will be set up in connection with, for example, the development of a preliminary topic and problem for the bachelor thesis, cf. the work requirement Project description for the bachelor thesis.

Passed course SKOMP1000 and SKOMPPRA10.

After completing the course, the student is expected to have achieved the following learning outcomes defined in terms of knowledge, skills, and general competence:

Knowledge

The student

• can discuss the nurse’s role and responsibilities in a chosen area of specialisation
• can summarise relevant research and professional development in the chosen specialisation

Skills

The student

• can create a project description, including a time schedule and how he/she intends to complete the bachelor’s thesis with the resources available
• can formulate a clear research question relating to nursing, which is possible to answer within the framework of the thesis
• can carry out an independent systematic literature review in accordance with the applicable research standards
• can clarify concepts, analysing and assessing different sources of information, and using these sources to formulate relevant argumentation
• can present specialist literature in an independent, logical, critical and systematic manner

General competence

The student i

• can disseminate and arguing for strengths and weaknesses of his/her own study in a substantial and methodical manner
• can reflect on relevant research ethics issues

Lectures, seminars, supervision, and self-study. All students will be allocated a supervisor.

Language of instruction: Norwegian/English

Under supervision, the students will conduct an independent research or development project, or a literaturestudy. Students can choose to write the master’s thesis individually or in pairs. On application, large, interdisciplinary innovation projects can be written in groups of up to four students. Students can also apply to write the master’s thesis with students from other specialisations if they so wish, provided that the scope of the master’s thesis is the same. If more than one student work on the master’s thesis together, each student’s contributions must be documented. The thesis can be written as a monograph or as a scientific article on a specialised topic.

Development of the project description in preparation for the master’s thesis is part of the course MAVIT4070 Research Design and Project Description, 10 ECTS credits.

All compulsory courses in the programme must be passed before the student can submit their master's thesis for assessment.

After completing the course, the student should have the following learning outcomes defined in terms of knowledge, skills and general competence:

Knowledge

The student

• has advanced knowledge of their area of specialisation and can analyse academic problems to identify the need for research and professional development
• has in-depth knowledge of the research process

Skills

The student

• can analyse relevant theories and issues to initiate and carry out a limited research, quality improvement or development work
• can use relevant methods for research, quality improvement or development work in their own work
• can analyse and deal critically with various sources of information and use them in scholarly arguments in their own research, quality improvement or development work
• can carry out an independent, limited research, quality improvement or development work in accordance with the approved project description and the applicable norms for research ethics

General competence

The student

• can communicate relevant issues, analyses and conclusions from their own research, quality improvement or development work to both the general public and academia
• can contribute to new thinking, innovation processes and evidence-based practice in the health services and in health-promoting work

Work and teaching methods used in the course are self-study, three to six master’s seminars with presentations, and an offer of 20 hours’ supervision per thesis, regardless of whether it is written individually or in a group.

The seminars are an arena for sharing experience from all stages of the project work. Students will take part in academic discussion and practise structuring and wording academic argumentation and communicating constructive criticism. Presenting their work, giving feedback to fellow students, and receiving feedback from fellow students and teachers, are important parts of the seminars.

The supervision agreement is signed by the students and supervisors at the start of the supervision.

When a group of students work together, an overview of each student’s individual contribution must be enclosed with the assignment.

The following must have been approved in order for a student to be permitted to take the examination:

• Two oral presentations (up to 20 minutes each) at the master seminar, and completion of the opponent role with critique/feedback on the presentation from fellow students.

The master’s thesis written by one or two students. Large, interdisciplinary innovation projects can be written in groups of up to four students on application. Individual oral examination where the grade can be adjusted.

The content and scope of different forms of master's theses:

• Monograph: Recommended scope of a monographic assignment is 22,000 words +/- 10%

• Scientific article: The thesis must include a manuscript in the form of at least one article that is in accordance with the author guidelines for a relevant scientific journal, and a supplementary memo/introductory chapter to the article-based thesis ('kappe') that elaborates on the theoretical and methodological considerations underlying the article. The layout, structure and scope of the article must comply with the guidelines of the journal in question, and the introductory chapter to the article-based thesis can be a maximum of 10,000 words.

The thesis can be written in English or a Scandinavian language (Norwegian, Swedish or Danish).

The written thesis must be awarded a grade of A-E (preliminary grade) in order for a student to take the oral examination. The final grade is set after the oral examination. The whole grade scale can be used when setting the final grade.

An individual oral examination lasting up to 40 minutes based on the master’s thesis. The candidate gives a 10 - 15 minutes presentation of their master’s thesis at the start of the oral examination.

Students can appeal against the grade set for the written part of the examination in accordance with the Act relating to Universities and University Colleges.